Which cities are safer as climate changes?

The data is clear. We’re seeing more frequent extreme rainfall and stronger storm events as climate changes. And in that evolving future climate, some cities are facing more risk than others.

Business Insider highlights one research group that is evaluating which cities are safest in our future climate.

The list includes San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and the Twin Cities.

On this week's Climate Cast I spoke with Portland State University urban planning professor Vivek Shandas about what we might call evaluating cities 'climate change geography.'

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As you can imagine, the task of evaluating risk for individual cities is complex. One challenge is how much weight to give to infrastructure and city adaptation plans vs. more extreme storm events.

The concept of climate change geography is an evolving area of research going forward. We’ve already seen thousands of people relocate after Katrina and Sandy. Now people in Houston and Puerto Rico are facing the same choice; where do we go to live in a safer place?

Minnesota cities score high on this study’s list of “climate safe” places. A big part of that reason is good infrastructure and the high-quality climate adaptation planning here. But even our “Scandinavian Riviera” is seeing more flooding from increasing extreme rainfall events.

So, when it comes to climate and extreme weather Steven, safety is a relative term.